§ MR. CROOKS (Woolwich)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the continued lack of employment at Woolwich in consequence of the Royal Arsenal having to bear the whole, or nearly the whole, of the loss of orders attendant upon the Government declaration to reduce expenditure; and whether, having regard to the fact that 15,000 men have been discharged from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, during the last four or five years, he can now say whether he will stop any further discharges.
I beg also to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will instruct the Army Council to place such orders with the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, as will obviate the dismissal of the 1,200 men who have received warning of discharge.
§ THE SECRETARY Of STATE FOR WAR (Mr. HALDANE,) HaddingtonI will answer both Questions together. Yes, Sir, my attention has been drawn to the continued diminution of work at Woolwich referred to by my hon. friend, but the reason is not that stated by him. The reductions are the outcome of general reductions in naval and military expenditure. Except rifle and small arms ammunition, as to which sufficient proportions have been ordered from the ordnance factories to keep the respective shops in work with present staffs, practically all the new orders on Army Votes for articles made in the ordnance factories are being placed with them. The fact is, that there is not work to keep the present staff employed, and further discharges appear to be inevitable. I have, however, postponed the operation of the notices of discharge temporarily in order to mitigate hardships as far as possible, and I am in anxious consultation with the Admiralty as to the possibility of finding further work for this year. There are certain articles which public polity requires us to place in a certain proportion for manufacture by the trade, but it is not any unusual allocation of these articles which has led to the present difficulty.
§ MR. CROOKSWill the right hon. Gentleman facilitate the payment of bonuses to the men now in the Arsenal, so that they may get away quickly when opportunity offers, and make vacancies for those who are not successful in getting jobs elsewhere?
§ MR. HALDANEasked for notice of the Question.
§ MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.)Will the right hon. Gentleman consider the desirability of appointing a small expert Committee to discuss the possibility of employing the plant at these places fully in both peace time and war time.
§ MR. HALDANEWe have such a. Committee now.